From
The Desk Of Clarence Bass

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“We found a dose-dependent decrease in the rate of telomere shortening according
to the level of baseline omega-3 fatty acids, suggesting that the association is
causal.” Ramin Farzaneh-Far, MD, assistant professor of medicine, UC San Francisco.

Fish Oil Slows Aging

Omega 3 Revitalizes Brain Cellsin Emerging Schizophrenia

The evidence on lifestyle and aging continues to be
eye-popping. The case for exercise and healthy eating as a means of
controlling how long and how well we live grows stronger with each passing day.
The latest is a report suggesting that omega-3 fish
oil slows telomere aging. That’s a big deal because telomeres appear to be a key
to longevity. This is the first study linking diet and telomeres.

Earlier, we looked at the effect of exercise on telomere
aging. Telomeres shorten as cells age. One study
compared telomere length in active and inactive twins. Another study compared
telomeres in middle-aged athletes with telomeres in their sedentary
peers. Both studies found that people who exercise
have longer telomeres; their cells look decades younger.

Telomere preservation appears to
explain a significant benefit of omega-3 fish oil. The new study,
reported in the January 20, 2010, Journal of the American
Medical Association, is the first to show that a dietary factor may be
able to slow telomere shortening. (Keep in mind that omega 3 is not produced in
the body; it must come from diet.)

Cardiologist Ramin Farzaneh-Far,
MD, and his colleagues measured telomeres in the white blood cells of 608
outpatients with stable coronary artery disease at baseline—and again
after five years of follow-up. Blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids were also
measured at the beginning of the study.

People with heart disease were
chosen because we have strong evidence that fish oil significantly
reduces the risk of death in people with coronary artery disease.

Patients were grouped based on
the level of omega 3 in their blood. The four equal groupings ranged from a low
of 2.3% to a high of 7.3%. The optimal level of omega 3 is between 7 and 8
percent, “with most people on Western diets likely having levels way below what
is optimal,” Farzaneh-Far explained.

The subjects in the lowest
quartile of omega 3 experienced the fastest rate of telomere shortening, while
those in the top quartile had the lowest rate of shortening. “Each [standard
deviation] increase in DHA+EPA levels was associated with a 32% reduction in the
odds of telomere shortening,” the researchers reported.

“This suggests the existence of
a novel mechanism for why omega-3 fatty acids are effective” in reducing the
risk of death in patients with coronary artery disease, explained Dr.
Farzaneh-Far, an assistant professor of medicine at UC San Francisco.

Farzaneh-Far also said the study
is “one of the few…that has two measurements of telomere length, so we were able
to measure the actual rate of change, which gives us a sense of the rate at
which biological aging is taking place. From a scientific point of view, that is
one of the novel elements of the study.”

As noted above, the study is the
first to show that diet “may be able to slow down telomere shortening,”
Farzaneh-Far said. “We found a dose-dependent decrease in the rate of telomere
shortening according to the level of baseline omega-3 fatty acids, suggesting
that the association is causal.” In other words, white blood cell aging
increased in proportion to the rate of decline in omega-3 level. The cells
became younger as the omega-3 readings went up.

This association strongly
suggests, but does not prove, a causal effect.

Clearly, telomere length is a
critical marker of aging, especially in people with heart disease. “To
definitively address the question of whether omega-3 fatty acids inhibit
cellular aging, a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trail would be
necessary,” the researchers wrote in their report. Dr. Farzaneh-Far suggested
that such research be done in healthy adults, because we already have powerful
evidence of the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in heart patients.

We’ll have to wait for that
study, but we already have a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trail
showing the beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids in patients with signs of
emerging mental illness. The study, conducted in Austria, is reported in the
February 2010 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Fish Oil Circumvents Psychosis

This study found that fish oil
capsules may keep young people with early signs of mental illness from
progressing into fully developed schizophrenia. If confirmed in larger studies
now beginning, this would be a major breakthrough for some 2.4 million Americans
who suffer from the disorder, which is often treated with antipsychotic
medications. Importantly, fish oil is very safe, while antipsychotic medications have adverse
effects and are controversial.

An illness affecting adolescents
and young adults, schizophrenia is any one of a large group of psychotic
disorders which grossly distort reality. “Schizophrenia is among the most
mysterious and costliest diseases in terms of human suffering,” said G. Paul
Amminger, MD, lead author of the new study. “Anything that gives some hope to
avoid this is great.”

Dr. Amminger and his colleagues
identified 81 people, ages 13 to 25, with warning signs of psychosis, including
sleeping much more or less than usual, growing suspicious of others, believing
someone is putting thoughts in their head, or believing they have magical
powers. Forty-one were randomly assigned to take four fish oil capsules a day
for three months. The other 40 patients took dummy pills. All subjects were then
observed for an additional 40 weeks. The study was “double-blind,” which means
that the patients—and the medical personnel—did not know who was taking fish oil
and who was taking the placebo.

All patients received active
care. Anti-depressants were allowed where indicated. Anti-psychotic medications
and mood stabilizers, however, were not permitted. The only significant
difference in treatment was the fish oil capsules.

After a year on monitoring, only 2 of the 41 patients
taking fish oil, about 5%, has become psychotic, or completely out of touch with
reality. In the placebo group, 11 of 40 became psychotic, about 28%.

“The 12-week intervention with
omega-3 significantly reduced the transition rate to psychosis and led to
significant symptomatic and functional improvements during the entire [12 month]
follow-up period,” the researchers wrote.

“The most striking finding of
the present study is that the group differences were sustained after cessation
of the intervention,” the report stated. “Only 1 patient treated with omega-3
developed psychosis during the post-treatment follow-up period.”

“In conclusion,” the report
states, “the present trail strongly suggests that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty
acids (PUFA) may offer a viable prevention and treatment strategy with minimum
associated risk in young people at ultra-high risk of psychosis.”

What caused the almost six-fold
improvement? What was the mechanism?

No one knows what causes
schizophrenia; many factors are thought to be involved, including genetic and
biochemical factors.

The general hypothesis is
that omega-3 PUFA enrich and protect cell membranes, including brain cells.
Omega-3 makes cells work and communicate more efficiently. Therefore, it could
be that patients with a high-risk for developing
schizophrenia have a deficiency or don’t process fatty acids properly,
leading to faulty brain cells.

Here’s what the researchers wrote:

“Based on findings of reduced long-chain omega-3 and
omega-6 PUFA in individuals with schizophrenia, it has been argued that
dysfunctional fatty acid metabolism could be involved in the etiology of the
disorder…The therapeutic effects of omega-3 PUFAs may result from altered
membrane fluidity and receptor responses following their incorporation into cell
membranes.”

That’s what happened, the researchers speculate. The
omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil helped restore or stabilize the brain cells of
the high-risk patients.

Sure looks like omega-3 fish
oil—along with exercise and healthy balanced eating—is an important part of
the formula for living long and well.